Company (NVB), recently made it clear that there is no division within the management team of the union but explained that the union and its members do not support Chairman Cotino Finisie because they do not agree with his claim that the president has tricked them. According to Nankoe, government officials are currently taking care of the paperwork to make sure that they can receive their money.

“He flew solo when he made an announcement about our last campaign. We were unaware of that. The bus and the boat owners will be the ones who will face the consequences and maybe the government will no longer want to take us seriously and maybe it will not longer want to meet with us. The union will hold a meeting with all of its members to determine the consequences,” said the deputy chairman who confirmed that he led the campaign in front of the Office of the President because the chairman was on leave. “We visited the president and she talked to us but she did not promise us that she would deposit the money. She explained that she would check with the Ministry of Finance and Planning to find out what they could deposit for us. She did not promise that she would deposit the money for an entire quarter.”

Nankoe explained that the money for one month was deposited without any receipts and that they were referred to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, Sergio Akiemboto. The Chief of Staff assured them in the presence of the chairman that he would do his utmost this week to have more money deposited into their bank accounts. “We received word that something was deposited but we do not know how much exactly.

It also is not true that we are busy preparing for a strike because we have already been paid so that would be senseless,” said Nankoe who added that the first contact with the minister of

Transportation, Communications and Tourism (TCT), resulted in a payment of the money over three months. No other administration has ever done that. The first payment was made although there was no paperwork yet. “We received our money and so the bus and the boat owners are grateful to the government,” said Nankoe who added that so far the government has kept its promises. “The members disapproved of the statements made by the chairman because he is carrying out a political agenda.”